Classifieds

Bomb site photos, video assist FBI investigation

Tue., Jan. 25, 2011

Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick honors Sgt. Jason Hartman, Sgt. Chuck Reisenauer and Sgt. Eric Olsen at the Spokane City Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 24, 2011. The men led the police effort on Jan. 17 to redirect the march honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and evacuate a portion of downtown in response to the discovery of a bomb. (Jonathan Brunt)

Bomb responders

Audio: Listen to an excerpt of an interview with police Sgts. Jason Hartman, Chuck Reisenauer and Eric Olsen.

The search to find the person who left a bomb along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march has entered its second week with federal authorities still unable to identify a suspect.

Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the Spokane office of the FBI, said investigators have received numerous photos and video taken Jan. 17 of the area around Washington Street and Main Avenue but nothing that essentially solves the case for them.

“We have received a large amount of still and video data from the public that has been very helpful,” Harrill said. “I just don’t know yet where all that might lead.”

Meanwhile, three Spokane police sergeants were honored Monday for their efforts to quickly divert thousands of marchers to a new route and for their other work that day.

Officials lauded Jason Hartman, Chuck Reisenauer and Eric Olsen as heroes for their work and gave them a standing ovation at a City Council meeting Monday.

“You’re seeing in real life what leadership is,” Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told the council. “These sergeants were the leaders that day who handled the immediate response (and) made executive-level decisions right on the spot that made a difference.”

Authorities have characterized the bomb as a sophisticated device that was placed in a manner that would have had maximum effect against the marchers, who were rerouted following its discovery. Three workers from the Spokane Public Facilities District, which runs the Spokane Convention Center, found the backpack containing the bomb and quickly notified police.

The bomb was described as having a remote triggering device and shrapnel that could have caused multiple casualties.

In an interview Monday, the three police sergeants downplayed their actions and noted there were around 25 officers working at the scene.

“Every day in this city, Spokane police officers, both men and women, do outstanding police work. This just happened to be that we were the ones there,” Reisenauer said. “We’re not heroes. We were doing our job. That’s what we’re paid to do. That’s what we’ve been trained to do.”

The three people who found the bomb still haven’t been named or publicly thanked. Shogan said they were unable to attend Monday’s meeting. Kirkpatrick said they will be honored later.

Hartman praised the Public Facilities District workers and said their actions should serve as an example.

“We heavily rely on the public to report things,” said Hartman, who came up with the alternative march route. “Somebody could have just ignored this and said, ‘This isn’t a big deal,’ and we could have had tragic results.”